Ford's unveiling earlier this week of
the new Transit SuperSportVan
has had us reminiscing about the Blue Oval's more wacky Transit adventures, namely the Supervan series.
This started way back in the seventies with a GT40 chassis and a mid-mounted 400bhp V8. In 1984, Ford built Supervan 2, this time using a fibreglass body on a C100 Group C chassis and fitted with a Cosworth DFL V8 - the long-stroke version of Ford's famous DFV F1 engine. It was clocked at Silverstone doing 174mph.
Finally, and to help promote the launch of the Mk5 Transit, in 1995 Ford went completely loopy and had Supervan 2 rebuilt with a new body and a 650bhp Cosworth HB F1 engine to create the truly insane Supervan 3 you see here.
Sadly, Supervan 3 has since had a more practical 260bhp 3.0-litre V6 installed, which is a bit of a shame. Still, the very fact that it exists at all - and still belongs to FoMoCo - is a fact worthy of celebration.